A row has broken out after students at one of London’s top universities were temporarily suspended after a Palestinian solidarity rally.
Members of the Palestine Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) said the move was an attempt to silence them after the rally on Monday October 9 and demanded the university “revoke the formal warnings” and drop the disciplinary proceedings.
The rally, which the society said was to support “the people of Gaza in their struggle against the occupation”, took place outside the university's main building in central London but at some point a fire alarm was sounded and the whole building had to be evacuated.
The society said: "The rally began on the steps of the main building, where rallies have historically been held at SOAS, and later safely moved to the green space opposite the main building, when a fire alarm sounded and the main building was evacuated. Needless to say, no Palestine Society member was in any way responsible for the alarm sounding.”
SOAS said students were not suspended because of free speech issues, but because 'event and venue protocols were not followed'.
SOAS said: “We wish to be clear that this suspension pending a further investigation is being imposed on a small number of students not because they engaged in solidarity action, but because they violated an agreement with the executive, supported by the Students' Union, which disrupted our teaching, learning and wider activities and led to a significant breach of health and safety policies and procedures.”
